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Stalked: Marcelle Joseph, Independent Curator and Author

7 April 2015

Curator and supporter
of young designers, Marcelle Joseph, is a well known face on both the art and
fashion scenes. Having begun her career in law Marcelle chose to leave this
industry to pursue her passion in the arts and is now a highly respected curator,
running projects at interesting pop up locations around London. Her love for
young creatives also extends to the fashion industry by supporting emerging
designers and in result has a killer wardrobe to accompany that passion!

I caught up with
Marcelle while wandering around Studio Voltaire to see the latest exciting young
female artists in which the gallery is supporting.

Why did you decide to
start Marcelle Joseph Projects and how do you pick your artists and projects?

After toiling away for
over a decade as a corporate lawyer at a mega firm with over 700 lawyers
worldwide, I went back to study Art Business at Christie’s. After
finishing this degree, I wanted to do something entrepreneurial and curatorial
and shied away from working for a large gallery or auction house.
Founding my own roving projects company gave me the opportunity to work
with a myriad of artists from emerging artists discovered at their MA degree
shows to established artists such as Sir Howard Hodgkin and Louise Bourgeois.
Given that I work nomadically, I first have to find the venue for an
exhibition and then a curatorial construct if it is not a solo presentation. At
that point, I can pick the artists according to the exhibition theme. I
am always visiting gallery and museum exhibitions in London and endeavour to go
to at least one international art fair each year. This year, it is Frieze
New York in May after visiting Artissima in Torino last year and Art Brussels
in 2013. Seeing so much art develops the eye and I try to stay true to my
own eye and love to make discoveries, giving young artists their first solo
shows in London.

Who are the artists to
watch at the moment?

At the moment, zombie formalism or process
abstraction is incredibly trendy (Lucien Smith, Oscar Murillo, etc) but I
prefer the Dusseldorf Academy abstract artists such as Chris Succo, David
Ostrowska and Henning Strassburger and recent RA Schools grads Hannah Perry and
Alex Clarke who have become and are becoming market darlings over the last few
years. The young artists I have discovered in London that I admire are
Charlie Billingham (RA Schools 2013), Stefania Batoeva (RCA 2014), Jesse Darling
(Slade 2014), Zadie Xa (RCA 2014) and Jennifer Caroline Campbell (Slade 2014).

What has been your
favourite project/exhibition to date?

My favourite exhibition that I curated was 2Q13:
Women Collectors, Women Artists at the Lloyds Club in London in
2013. It featured 59 women artists featured in the collections of
seven women collectors from established artists such as Kiki Smith, Gillian
Wearing, Tracey Emin, Laurie Simmons, Rachel Whiteread, Cornelia Parker,
Penelope Slinger, Catherine Opie and Nan Goldin to important mid-career artists
such as Chantal Joffe, Katy Moran, Becky Beasley, Karen Knorr Alexandra Birken,
Alex Prager and Maaike Schoorel. I am a strong believer in gender
equality and love to give a leg up to women artists in today's male-dominated
contemporary art world.

How would you describe
your personal style?

Although the contemporary art world is known for
its love of black, my style is colour and print which translates into lots of
Marc by Marc Jacobs, Peter Pilotto, Erdem, Jonathan Saunders, etc. I also
love my collection of brogues and trainers as I need to be able to go from a
studio visit in Hackney to a private view in Mayfair in the evening. I
rely on the Tube to get everywhere so I need to have sensible footwear.
Skater shoes by Marc by Marc Jacobs, brogues by Grenson and trainers by
Acne Studios are some of my favourites.

Who are your favourite
emerging fashion designers at the moment?

I discovered a great young designer in A/W 2014
- Rejina Pyo. I bought an amazing overcoat designed by Pyo. I get
compliments every time I wear it. It is an over-sized blue coat with big
turquoise and white colour panels. Like a colour field painting by
Rothko.

Where do you shop and
eat in London?

I hate shopping in
stores so I am a big proponent of online shopping. Matches Fashion,
Net-a-Porter and Shoescribe are my favourites.

I love Japanese food so Nobu rates high on my
list of restaurants but I have become a big fan of Peruvian food over the past
year so I look forward to dinners at Coya and Ceviche. Chotto Matte in
Soho combines Japanese and Peruvian food so naturally, it suits my taste buds.

Five items you can't
live without?

Unoco coconut water, my giant 5 metre tape
measure, the Art Newspaper for keeping up to date, my RA Schools Patrons card
that allows me to meet 17 amazing new artists every year and my Land Rover
Discovery 5 which is perfect for art transporting.